


Would It Be So Bad If I Stayed?

by 1Temmie_Official1



Series: Northern Downpour Sends Its Love [13]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Canon Universe, Dimension Travel, Dreams vs. Reality, Episode: s02e03 Return to Omashu, Episode: s02e04 The Swamp, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Plantbending, Visions, Yue (Avatar) Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29658636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Temmie_Official1/pseuds/1Temmie_Official1
Summary: The first thing Yue saw when she opened her eyes was the swamp.What?
Relationships: Sokka & Yue (Avatar), Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Yue/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Northern Downpour Sends Its Love [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957609
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Would It Be So Bad If I Stayed?

**Author's Note:**

> Aka I'm doing another universe travel.
> 
> This is basically how I include the swamp episode. I honestly don't want to write the Omashu stuff so you're getting this instead.

They had travelled for a bit and were currently sleeping. Yue was up, staring at the moon. Mei and Ty Lee were still asleep, as was Zuko. He was next to her, snoring quietly.

"Do you need some help?" Yue offered to Katara, who was packing up their supplies.

Katara shook her head. "No, but thank you for the offering."

Zuko groaned in grogginess, sitting up and spitting hair out of his mouth. He was so cute. "Hey, Zucchini." Sokka greeted jokingly.

Zuko stretched a bit. "I had the weirdest dream. It was like 'what would happen if Ozai was Fire Lord instead of Uncle." Yue shivered involuntarily. From what she could remember of Ozai, he was not a nice man. If he were Fire Lord... Yue tried not to think about it.

Aang frowned. "That sounds weird."

Zuko nodded, despite his nonchalant tone, Yue could tell he was shaken. "Yeah."

Yue chuckled in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. "What happened there?" She asked, still curious to how it played out.

Zuko furrowed his brow, attempting to remember the details. "Well, my sister was alive, for some reason I was on the run? I think I was bald with a ponytail." Yue was surprised. Zuko had rarely ever mentioned his sister. She was presumed to be dead by the Fire Nation, killed by Ozai. Yue believed it.

"How would that work?" Sokka asked at the same time Katara asked, "You have a sister?"

Yue was quiet, letting Zuko explain the situation. Zuko paused, an almost pained expression on his face. "I... I _had_ a sister. I don't like to talk about her." His tone was clear he wasn't going to say anymore. Yue put her hand on his.

"Okay," Katara said, dropping the subject and continuing to pack. "We should make it to Omashu soon, then we can begin on Aang's earthbending."

Aang had been strangely quiet. "I don't know. Something seems... weird."

Sokka shrugged. "I think that we should have smooth sailing from here on out."

Yue hoped so.

-

They climbed over the hill. Sokka and Aang had assured her that this was, in fact, the right place. 

There was something burning on Omashu. There was a Fire Nation flag.

"Shit," Sokka said.

'Shit' was right.

-

3 weeks.

It took 3 weeks for all of them to defeat the takeover. Over the course of those weeks, Yue learned a few useful things.

One, Ty Lee was terrifying. The sheer amount of people she chi blocked... and Yue thought that Mei was supposed to be the terrifying one.

Two, the rebellion was much more serious than they thought. The fact that they managed to capture the city at all was worrying, and the fact it took 3 weeks to take it back was even worse. The Fire Nation was in no position to help against the revolution. The Water Tribes were focused on rebuilding and building trade relationships. That meant that their only option was the Earth King, but that meant that first Aang would have to master earthbending. 

And that lead to number three, perhaps the most important of them all, was that King Bumi could not train Aang. Something about neutral jing and waiting and listening. Yue didn't understand, she barely understood how to harness her own element, much less all the others (okay, that wasn't fair, she was getting quite good at fighting and healing).

So it was back on Appa.

Yue looked over the side of the saddle. There was a swamp beneath them. "Are you sure we're going the right way?" Yue asked nervously.

Aang shrugged. "I don't know, Sokka's usually the one with the map."

Sokka looked up from where he was cuddled into Zuko. "I thought Katara was reading the map."

Katara put her hands up in surrender. "I thought we were following Mei and Ty Lee's balloon!"

Mei, who was in the balloon beside Appa, raised an eyebrow. "I was following you guys."

Zuko groaned. "So we're lost."

Yue pursed her lips. "Yep."

They flew in silence. There was a slight whooshing sound, almost like wind or windchimes. She felt something on her wrists, so light that she otherwise wouldn't have noticed. She attempted to move further into the center, only to find herself stopped.

Yue frowned. "Uh, guys?" She frowned at the strangely transparent vine-like object on her wrist.

Aang looked over. "Yeah-? What's that?!" They yelled in confusion. Appa roared, waking up Momo who was on Katara's lap. Appa stopped, now hovering in the air as Yue tried to pry it off. Another one grabbed her other wrist. It was almost gentle but firm and unyielding. It wanted her to go into the swamp. Aang jumped off.

"I don't know?" Now everyone was looking at her. It was coming from the swamp. "It's from the swamp."

Aang tried to pry it off of her wrists. Zuko sent a blast of fire at it. Nothing. Aang frowned. "Is it doing anything?"

Yue shook her head. "No? It's almost pulling me. Not too bad, though-" as she said that, it pulled. Yue yelped, falling back. Aang blew at it. It loosened just a little. "Aang! That worked!"

Aang grinned. "I know exactly how to do this! My mom said that this was a little advanced, but it'll work!" Aang began to swirl his arm, creating a vortex. It was a tornado-like shape and... oh dear. He sent the tornado into the source of the vines. The wind tore up the ground. Fuck. "Oh no."

Yue glared at him. "'Oh no' is right!" She ripped her hands away from the vines. They disappeared. Yue stood up, brushing herself off. She felt dizzy but accounted that for standing up too quickly.

Zuko peered over the edge. Her vision was spinning. "Uh, Aang, how long should that tornado have lasted?"

Aang frowned. Yue put a hand to her forehead, her knees buckling beneath her. "A while." There was a distinct lack of wind.

Yue wasn't able to catch the rest of the conversation, her head was swimming. She fell forward and collapsed, her vision blacking.

This wasn't good.

-

Blissful silence. For a moment, she had blissful silence.

Insects.

Yue realized it wasn't her ringing ears making that noise, was actually the buzzing of insects. Gross.

Despite the heaviness of her eyelids, she forced them open.

The first thing Yue saw when she opened her eyes was the swamp.

_What?_

There was nobody else there except her.

She looked down at herself.

"What in the spirits-damned..?" She vocalized in confusion. She was wearing a pale purple-grey dress, nothing like she had ever worn before. The sleeves were obnoxiously long and flared.

The next thing she noticed was her hair. It was longer than it had ever been before and done in an elaborate style. Yue didn't think about how long it would have taken to put it up like this. It was also white for some reason? Yue was more concerned about everything else, though.

The third thing she noticed was that she was sitting on a rock.

The fourth thing she noticed was Sokka.

He was staring at her like she was a ghost. Yue stood up, staring at him. "Sokka." She greeted.

"Yue." Sokka was breathless. She walked to him. He jumped back. "Yue!"

Yue frowned. "Sokka, do you know where we are?"

Sokka shook his head. "Yue... Yue you..." She waited for him to finish stuttering. "Yue, how are you here?"

Yue rolled her eyes, putting a hand on her hip. "I'm more concerned about who put me in this dress. I was being dragged down by those vines, remember?"

Sokka shook his head more. "No, you... Yue, what happened to you?" He reached for her face slowly, like at any moment she would disappear. She took his hand and put it on her face. She was solid. Duh.

"I think the spirits wanted me to be here." She looked around. "Why did we land in the swamp? I thought we got the vines off?"

"Yue." Sokka interrupted. "I... I don't..." He paused, looking so very sad. "I don't think that you're my Yue."

Yue frowned. "What do you mean?"

Sokka sighed. "You... you turned into the moon."- Yue ignored the utter craziness of that statement- "The spirits are jerks but I think that they wanted you here."

Yue blinked. Sokka was right, he was always the brains of the group. "You're probably right." She took his hand. "We'll figure this out together."

Sokka blinked. "Okay. This is a swamp gas hallucination, but okay."

Yue laughed. "I think this is a dream, but I agree."

Sokka smiled. "It's good to see you again."

Yue paused, her smile falling the slightest bit. "I know."

-

"Sokka." She started. They were walking throughout the swamp. Sokka almost seemed to be ignoring her, looking ahead. He was acting more of a bodyguard than a friend. "What happened to me... well, your version of me?" She asked.

Sokka paused. He continued searching for ways out, slashing at the vines of the swamp. "You sacrificed yourself and turned into the moon. I couldn't save you." He said.

Yue looked down, continuing to walk. That didn't seem like the Sokka she knew. He always tried, even if it was to the detriment of himself. "You did save me, though." Memories that weren't her's seemed to come into my head. Whispers, snippets. She couldn't decipher them. "In my world, we both lived."

"Exactly." Sokka seemed defeated. "I could have saved you. But I didn't." He punctuated this with a slash to the vines. "I failed," He spoke quietly. It was sad, it held so much weight. Yue put a hand on Sokka's shoulder. He leaned into the touch for a moment, then he moved on. "It's fine. I know it's my fault."

"Sokka, it was not your fault." Yue asserted, offended that he would even think such a thing. She stopped walking. Sokka was turned away from her still. "Sokka, look at me."

Slowly, Sokka turned. He was... resigned. Like he was going to accept his fate. His punishment. "Yue, you don't have to lie to me."

"Lie?!" Yue yelled. "Sokka, I would never lie to you!" She took a breath. "Sokka, _I_ chose to sacrifice myself!" She said, barely curbing her anger. She wasn't angry at Sokka, she never would be. She was angry at the notion that it could ever be purely Sokka's fault. Sokka wasn't looking at her, but she wouldn't force him to. She took another breath, attempting to calm herself. "Sokka, were you the one to kill the moon spirit?" 

"No, that was Zhao," Sokka admitted, then gripped his boomerang tighter. "Then I should have stopped Zhao."

"You gave me the best days of my life. If you weren't there then I would have married Hahn, I would have been empty. You _gave me hope_." Yue stepped forward. She wasn't speaking for herself, but rather his Yue. She felt the presence, the memories, the feelings. "I'm not your Yue, but I know you. I know who you are. In my world, we are together, all of us. In my world, you were willing to sacrifice yourself for me. And Sokka," She stepped forward, taking his hand. "The fact that you were willing to die for me is a testament to _you_. You can't blame yourself forever."

Sokka met her eyes. "Yue, I'm sorry."

Yue smiled. "I know, Sokka."

Sokka finally, finally, smiled. This time it reached his eyes. "Let's get out of this stupid fucking swamp."

Yue took his hand. "Let's go."

-

They walked through the swamp. Yue absolutely loathed the sleeves and obnoxiously long hair. "A giant eel?" She asked. Sokka had mentioned this so nonchalantly that Yue almost missed it.

"Yeah! It was on Kyoshi Island- there's this group of warriors. All-female, but I got to train with them because I was friends with Aang."

Yue smiled. "In my world, you taught me how to defend myself while I was learning waterbending." Sokka nodded, gesturing with both hands despite one being intertwined with Yue's.

"Yeah, so there's this girl named Suki- she's the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors- and she's the reason that I'm not sexist still. I liked her."

Yue nodded knowingly. "I'm sure you liked a lot of people." It was good. It pained Yue, but this wasn't her Sokka. She knew that he needed to move on.

He turned to her, something akin to admiration in his eyes. "I don't think I've liked anyone like I like you." Oh to Koh's lair, how could she be mean to him?

Yue grinned. "I like you too."

It was so interesting to hear the stories of his travels. Her Sokka had told her as well, but the events were always slightly different. She told him stories of her travels as well. She thinks that her (greatly watered-down (she had gathered that this Zuko was not... the best. She knew that he would get better. Eventually)) version of General Fong's madness was much better than Sokka's.

-

Finally, after much walking, talking, and chopped vines, the center of the swamp was right there. A large banyan tree, Yue could feel the spiritual energy radiating from it. Something beyond her understanding was here.

She attempted to walk farther but was stopped by an invisible force. Something didn't want her to go further. "Sokka." He was walking without her, turned to the giant banyan tree.

He turned. "Yue, what's wrong?"

Yue smiled sadly. "This is as far as I can go."

Sokka, laughing, shook his head. "No, no you can come with me. We can do this together." There was an edge of desperation in his voice.

Yue shook her head. "I'm sorry, Sokka. This is as far as the spirits will let me go." To showcase, she put her arm out, and the barrier stopped her.

Sokka blinked. "No." He walked towards her. "No, I'm not going to lose you again." He paused. "I can't lose you again."

Yue smiled, tears welling up in her eyes. "Sokka. The spirits sent me here for a reason. I think I know why."

"Why?" Sokka said, stopping right in front of her.

"They wanted me to show you hope. You can't blame yourself for my... death." Yue spoke quietly, making this as easy as possible.

"I should have tried harder. I should have stopped Zhao. I should have done anything at all, but I didn't. I'm the reason you died." Sokka said fiercely. He was terrified, Yue could see it in his eyes. He had lost her. They were all just kids, they didn't need the pain of loss. They didn't need regret.

Yue closed her eyes, praying her tears wouldn't fall. She could almost feel this world's Yue encouraging her. "There was nothing you could have done. I don't want you to be sad forever." She cupped his cheek with her hand, looking into his eyes. "Sokka, you have to move on."

Sokka blinked, tears falling. "I don't want to move on. I love you, Yue."

Yue felt her own tears falling. "I love you too, and I don't want you to be sad."

Sokka didn't say any more, only kissing her like this was the last thing he would ever do. Yue kissed back. She felt herself slipping away. This wasn't her world. It wasn't her love to give. But she felt herself mourning.

"I'm sorry," Sokka said just as Yue felt herself blacking into darkness.

"I love you." Yue tried to say, but no words came out.

She was gone.

-

Sokka felt the ghost of a touch on his face.

He couldn't find himself to remember why.

He knew he saw Yue. He didn't remember her at all, he couldn't see her face. He felt tears dried on his face. He rubbed at his eyes.

It was just the swamp gas.

(The only reason Sokka knew Yue was there at all was that he knew it wasn't his fault.)

-

Yue sat up. "Where are we?" She was immediately engulfed in a hug from both her boyfriends. She smiled, patting them both on the backs as they both attested to how terrifying it was when she was gone. "It's okay, I'm okay."

Sokka was the one that pulled away first. "Yue, do you remember anything?" Yue searched her mind, the only thing she was left with was a vague feeling of sadness and longing.

"No. What happened?" She asked.

Sokka launched into a story of how Aang met a plantbender and learned 'cool funky facts' about the universe. Zuko still had his head buried into Yue's shoulder. She put an arm around him.

"Hey, Zuko, don't worry, I'm okay. You won't lose me." She comforted. He nodded but didn't let go. Sokka frowned in mock offence. "Don't worry, Sokka, you won't lose me either."

Sokka shrugged despite being slightly shaken. "I know, you can't resist my charm."

Yue smiled. "No, I can't."

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact, as I write this, the next fic ft Azula and Toph (it's called _Feel The Earth Underneath (Snatch a Star)_ ) has 6660 words.
> 
> Jokes on you I'm Very Tired and I just want to publish this rn tbh. If it's bad, it's bad. If I accidentally did a good, great! Half the purpose of this was for some more sweet sweet universe travel, the other half was to give some context to the Omashu stuff. I, as stated previously, don't want to write it at all <3


End file.
